BTW this method does not let the plants lay on the ground if you tend your
garden and
it is re-enforced correctly. They stay nice and clean this way too. Just a
different method.

Elaine in Ga
Zone 7b

"JoeSpareBedroom" wrote in message
...
"FragileWarrior" wrote in message
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"Elaine" wrote in news:SHGDg.9702$ID1.598
@bignews2.bellsouth.net:

I would just put some tall stakes in ground at each end of the tomatoes
and run twine (or cheap clothesline) back and forth for support.
Elaine in Ga

Me, too. Or just pound in four long stakes around each plant (closer at
the base and leaning outward at the top) and run string or wire around it
from bottom to top, tightening up the stakes as desired.

THAT'S gardening on a budget. ($50 rolls of fencing... Sheesh.

....and if half your tomatoes rot on the ground, where "the economy"? With
cages, they're all up in the air, nice & clean, and because they're shaded
by the leaves, there's less cracking (which is also caused by irregular
watering - a different subject).